Thursday, October 1, 2026
The seven seniors on Baldwin's boys tennis team are going out in style.
Five of those seniors have been on the squad since freshman year. The Bruins just wrapped up their third conference championship in four years after storming to a 13-1 record to seal Conference 2B.
Baldwin edged out Hewlett by one game in the conference, beating the Bulldogs both times.
Chad Iles (second singles), Brandon Firth (third singles), Lucas Duet (first doubles), Jerome Wallace (third doubles) and Steven Riviera (fourth doubles) have been Baldwin tennis mainstays for all four years.
Jane Hayes was thrilled to coach this group. Attending practice was not an optional thing, it was the only thing.
"They are overachievers,'' Hayes said. "They practice on the court while waiting for the bus to take us to away matches. They are an extremely dedicated bunch of boys. They have a great team camaraderie.
"They practice hard, play hard. It's a really great group of kids. It's been my pleasure to coach them the last four years,” she added.
The lone loss this spring was against Lynbrook early in the season. In this new world of digital distractions, it's not always easy to get all the players to buy into one cause, especially in an individual-type sport.
"There was a dedication,'' Hayes said. "They never miss practices. They don't miss matches. They were always there.''
Baldwin will march into the postseason where it faces Great Neck on May 11 in the Nassau County playoffs. Baldwin is seeded ninth. Great Neck is 8. "It should be a good tennis match,'' Hayes said.
While Iles and Firth were unbeaten at 2 and 3 singles, senior first singles Luke Lastique, also a senior, lost just once in compiling his 13-1 record.
"He's a unique tennis player,'' Hayes said of Lastique. "He gets shots you don't think he's going to get. Never count him out if he's down. He always comes back and wins it.''
Iles flew through the season unbeaten. "Chad is very at ease,'' Hayes said. "You have no idea if he's winning or losing. He's extremely humble. He goes out and plays his game. He has drop shots and lobs and covers the court well.''
Firth also went 14-0. "He's a spirited competitive layer,'' Hayes said. "He has great movement, covers the court.''
The first doubles team of Gavin Sorensen, an eighth-grader, and the senior Duet posted an unbeaten record, too.
With seven seniors graduating, including the top three singles players, Sorensen is likely moving on to a top singles spot next season. "He will be quite the tennis player in years to come,'' Hayes said.
At second doubles was juniors Myles Darby and Samuel Maurice. It was Darby's first season on the team after being with the football squad. "We'll count on him a lot next year,'' Hayes said.
The third doubles team was Wallace and Jayden Lopez while Jud Das played fourth doubles with a rotating duet of Jariel Solomon and Steven Rivera.
Next season figures to be a rebuilding year. But this four-year run was one to remember for Hayes, who has been with the program six years and turned it around.
